Filmmaker and author: Alexander Kluge dies

Kluge was considered one of the most versatile intellectuals in Germany and was a filmmaker, writer, philosopher and lawyer. In the 1960s and 1970s he became known as one of the most influential representatives of New German Cinema.

As an author, he belonged to “Group 47,” which shaped the literary world in the post-war Federal Republic, and made a name for himself primarily with short stories.

Kluge was born in Halberstadt in 1932 and studied law, history and church music. He received his doctorate and initially worked as a lawyer. In 1958 he interned with the world-famous director Fritz Lang (“Metropolis”) and soon began directing himself.

In 1962 he was one of the filmmakers who called for a cinema by authors with the “Oberhausen Manifesto”. Cleverly staged films such as “Farewell to Yesterday”, “The Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed” and “In danger and greatest need, the middle path brings death”.

In 1987, Kluge was a co-founder of the production company dctp, which supplies private television stations such as Sat.1 and RTL with scientific and cultural contributions. The magazine “Spiegel TV”, for example, comes from his house. For his books and films, Kluge received, among others, the Adolf Grimme Prize, the Georg Büchner Prize, the Heinrich Heine Prize and the Klopstock Prize.